Andrea Jaeger

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Andrea Jaeger

Country	United States
Residence	Durango, Colorado
Date of birth	June 1, 1965
Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois
Height	5'6" (1.68 m)
Weight
Turned pro	1979
Retired	1987
Plays	Right
Career prize money	US$1,490,487[1]
Singles
Career record:	260–85[2]
Career titles:	12
Highest ranking:	2 ( 1982, 1983)[3]
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	SF (1982)
French Open	F (1982)
Wimbledon	F (1983)
US Open	SF (1980, 1982)
Doubles
Career record:	47–38[4]
Career titles:	2 (inc.French Open)
Highest ranking:

Sister Andrea Jaeger (born June 4, 1965, in Chicago, Illinois) is a former World No. 2 professional tennis player from the United States whose brief but highly successful tennis career ended prematurely due to major shoulder injuries. Jaeger reached the singles final of Wimbledon in 1983 and the French Open in 1982. She reached the singles semifinals of the Australian Open in 1982 and of the U.S. Open in 1980 and 1982. She also won 11 singles titles. In mixed doubles, Jaeger won the French Open with Jimmy Arias in 1982. During her career, Jaeger won U.S. $1.4 million in prize money and millions more in endorsements. After retirement in 1987, she has prominently dedicated her life to public service, charities, and philanthropy. In 2006, she became Sister Andrea, an Anglican Dominican nun. She is part of the Episcopalian Church and based in Colorado, U.S.^[5]

Contents 1 Tennis career 2 Philanthropy 3 Grand Slam singles performance timeline 4 Singles wins 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Tennis career

While a student at Stevenson High School in suburban Chicago, Jaeger was the top ranked player in the United States in the 18-and-under age group. She won 13 U.S. national junior titles, including the most prominent junior titles in tennis: the 1979 Orange Bowl and 1979 Boca Raton.

In 1980 (at the age of 15 years, 19 days), she became the youngest player ever to be seeded at Wimbledon,^[6] a record that was broken by Jennifer Capriati in 1990. After defeating former champion Virginia Wade, she became the youngest quarterfinalist in the history of the tournament.^[7] Later in the year, she became the youngest semifinalist in U.S. Open history and was elected rookie of the year.

In 1981, Jaeger won the U.S. Clay Court Championships, defeating Virginia Ruzici in the final.

At the French Open in 1982, Jaeger defeated Chris Evert in a semifinal 6–1, 6–3 but lost the final to Martina Navratilova. She then reached the semifinals of both the U.S. Open and the Australian Open, losing both matches to Evert in straight sets.

At Wimbledon in 1983, Jaeger defeated six-time Wimbledon singles champion Billie Jean King 6–1, 6–1 in a semifinal on Centre Court, which was King's last career singles match at that tournament and her most lopsided singles defeat ever at Wimbledon.^[8] Jaeger then lost the final to Navratilova. In 2003, Jaeger said that the night before the final, she had a heated argument with her father^[9] over practicing and was locked out of her apartment by her father. Eventually, Jaeger asked Navratilova to convince her father to let her back in. She stated that emotional fatigue might have contributed to her lackluster performance in the final.^[10]

Jaeger competed in the tennis demonstration event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles (tennis was re-introduced as an Olympic sport in 1988). In 2006, Jaeger exchanged gifts with an Army Ranger serving in the Iraq War. He gave her his dog tags, and she gave him her Olympic ring.^[11]

Jaeger's career win-loss record against other top players was 3–17 against Evert, 4–11 against Navratilova, 2–8 against Tracy Austin, 6–8 against Hana Mandlikova, and 2–4 against Pam Shriver.

In an interview in 2003, Jaeger stated that she was never committed to being the top ranked player in the world and tanked matches to avoid the top spot.^[12] As she rose toward the top of the game, she started visiting hospitals during tournaments. She stated that she found it, in the words of a USA Today columnist, "difficult to reconcile the narrow-minded focus of a top tennis player with her desire to help others."^[13]

Jaeger won eight of the nine singles matches she played for the United States in Fed Cup. She also won two of the three Wightman Cup singles matches she played for the U.S.^[14]

A major shoulder injury at the age of 19 ended Jaeger's career prematurely in 1985. Seeing this career-ending injury as a door to a spiritual awakening, she went to college and received a degree in theology.

[edit] Philanthropy

Jaeger used her winnings from tennis to create the Silver Lining Foundation with her close friend and business partner Heidi Bookout in 1990. Located in Aspen, Colorado, the organization transported groups of young cancer patients to Aspen for a week of support and activities, including horseback riding and whitewater rafting. The foundation also provided money for reunions, family campouts, college scholarships, medical internships, and other programs for children who could not travel. The organization had other powerful backers, both in the world of sports and elsewhere. The first contributor was John McEnroe. Many high-profile celebrities were also involved, including Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, and David Robinson.

Jaeger's autobiography, "First Service," was published in 2004. In the book she wrote about her teenage years as a tennis player and her later decision to focus on serving God. All proceeds from the book were donated to children's charities.

Jaeger has since established the "Little Star Foundation," reaching on average 4,000 kids annually. She has moved from Aspen to a much larger 220-acre property in Hesperus, Coloroado, where she will be able to expand her programs.^[15]

On September 16, 2006, at the age of 41, Jaeger became Sister Andrea, an Anglican Dominican nun.^[16]

In April 2007, Jaeger and several former athletes, including Andre Agassi, Lance Armstrong, Tony Hawk, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Muhammad Ali, appeared on the American morning television talk show Good Morning America to announce their formation of a new charity entitled "Athletes for Hope" with the goal of encouraging their fellow athletes to think philanthropically.^{[17] [18]}

Oprah Winfrey describes Jaeger as a superstar turned superhero.^[19]

[edit] Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	Career SR
Australian Open	A	A	QF	SF	A	A	A	0 / 2
French Open	A	1R	SF	F	SF	1R	2R	0 / 6
Wimbledon	A	QF	4R	4R	F	A	A	0 / 4
U.S. Open	2R	SF	2R	SF	QF	A	2R	0 / 6
SR	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 18

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

[edit] Singles wins

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	November 23, 1979	African Eagles Classic (not listed on the WTA website)	Unknown	Bettina Bunge	6–4, 6–1
2.	February 14, 1980	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (Avon Futures tournament)	Hard	Barbara Potter	7–6, 4–6, 6–1
3.	June 13, 1980	Beckenham, United Kingdom	Grass	Jo Durie	6–0, 6–1
4.	September 15, 1980	Buick Riviera Classic, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA[20]	Hard	Hana Mandlíková	7–5, 4–6, 6–3
5.	November 10, 1980	Florida Federal Open, Tampa, Florida, USA[21]	Hard	Tracy Austin	walkover
6.	January 12, 1981	Avon Championships of Kansas City, USA	Carpet	Martina Navrátilová	3–6, 6–3, 7–5
7.	February 9, 1981	Avon Championships of California, Oakland, USA	Carpet	Virginia Wade	6–3, 6–1
8.	August 3, 1981	U.S. Women's Clay Court Championship, USA	Clay	Virginia Ruzici	6–1, 6–0
9.	February 1, 1982	Avon Championships of Detroit, USA	Carpet	Mima Jaušovec	2–6, 6–4, 6–2
10.	February 22, 1982	Avon Championships of California, Oakland, USA	Carpet	Chris Evert	7–6(5), 6–4
11.	January 24, 1983	Avon Tennis Cup, Marco Island, Florida, USA	Clay	Hana Mandlíková	6–1, 6–3

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Andrea Jaeger profile on the WTA Tour's official website
• Athletes for Hope

Persondata
NAME	Jaeger, Andrea
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Sister Andrea
SHORT DESCRIPTION	former professional tennis player from the United States
DATE OF BIRTH	June 4, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH	Chicago, Illinois
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH